Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Ukraine’s Defender

From his besieged capital, Kyiv, Volodymyr Zelenskiy rejected US offers to help him escape at the start of the war and used nightly speeches on social media to convince Ukrainians that they would prevail. Zelenskiy, who gained fame as an actor playing an accidental president on a popular TV show, adapted his talents as an entertainer to address parliaments around the world and get support for his nation’s fight. It worked. Ukraine’s initially outgunned forces pushed Russian troops out of the Kyiv area and then the northeast, aided by flows of weapons and financial support from the US, Europe and other allies. In November the Ukrainian military scored a major victory by taking back the southern city of Kherson, the only regional capital Russian forces had seized in the invasion.

The war is far from over. Russian President Vladimir Putin has hinted darkly that he may resort to nuclear weapons to try to force Ukraine—and the West—into a deal that lets him keep some of his gains. And the postwar challenge of reconstructing Ukraine’s shattered economy is expected to cost more than $340 billion.